From the Star Ledger When I started out in the wine business 30 years ago, no one ever talked about drinking wine with chocolate. Wine went with beef; with chocolate, we drank coffee. Today, pontificating about what kinds of wine — red or white, still or sparkling — go with what types of chocolate — milk or dark, mousse or cake — is a hot topic among foodies and wine geeks. (Don’t get me wrong: Some of my best friends are wine geeks.) The normally sound advice “Drink what you like” doesn’t quite work with chocolate, because most wines, […]

By Gaby Israel 2009 Epsilon Shiraz, Barossa Valley, South Australia – $24.95 2009 was the third in a row series of ‘Good’ yet not amazing vintages in the Barossa region. Nevertheless, based on James Halliday’s review as well as Natalie’s, who gave it 90 and 92 respectively, it seems a successful effort for the vintage. This Shiraz is made for short-medium term cellaring, which makes the GPCi challenging. If you need to carefully allocate your cellar budget this month, I’d wait and read on… 2009 Xavier , A.C., Châteauneuf-Du-Pape, Rhône – $39.95 The hunt for great 2009 CdP continuous… Consistently […]

50 Ways to Keep Your Lover this Valentine’s Day Find wines to match 50 chocolate dishes at www.NatalieMacLean.com “Want to seduce someone this Valentine’s Day?” asks Natalie MacLean, author of Red, White and Drunk All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass. “Just share a glass of wine (or three) with your sweetheart.” “Wine is liquid sensuality: Its heady bouquet stimulates the appetite and its velvet caress soothes that desire,” she observes. “What other drink is described as both ‘voluptuous’ and ‘muscular’? And when you pair wine with the mouth-coating luxury of chocolate, the combination is impossible to resist.” […]

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BIOGRAPHY

Natalie MacLean

Canada's Most Quoted Wine Writer

Natalie MacLean is editor of Canada's largest wine review web site, publishing hundreds of wine reviews every week for more than 160,000 members. She was named the World's Best Drinks Writer the World Food Media Awards in Australia.

Natalie has published two books with Random House, the second was named one of Amazon's Best Books of the Year. Get access to all of her reviews today by becoming a member of her site.